Fruit Salad
by Tsubasa Kya
Summary: They met when she ran into him, and then started dating. His insecurity keeps him from telling her the truth about his work. Will it also lead to losing her later on when her 'exboyfriend' returns and she gets a new job? KuwabaraKagome. InuYuYu xover.
1. Fruit Salad

**Title: Fruit Salad  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha belong to their rightful owners. This story is the product of a lack of KuwabaraKagome fanfiction. Flames will not be tolerated._

Fruit Salad

Kagome raced down the street, trying to hold her hat on her head. Why, oh why, had she decided to cook? In the end all she ended up with was a very burnt casserole and no time to stop at the store to get something for back up. So she had taken a large bowl and dumped all her cans of fruit into it, spiked it with a diabetic's worst enemy, and pretended she had made it from scratch.

But with trying to hold her hat on, and running while holding a sloshing fruit salad toward work and the pot-luck, she was quickly finding that the day was not at all for her. Every light was against her, so she had to wait until the walk signal came up, and then race across the street because it wasn't up for very long.

She was going to be late, and she knew it. It didn't help to know that her boss was a stingy old pooper who just wanted a good looker and begged Kagome to dress up like some sort of smutty woman when she came to work. Ho boy, did she miss the days when she well-hopped with no worries about a job.

Of course, those wonderful days were over! Yipee. No more Kouga, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, or anyone else. No more Oh-my-god-I'm-about-to-be-murdered-by-a-psychopath-thoughts because Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's brother, had decided that she was in the way of his path to the Tetsusaiga.

Ah, yes, the tense life of living on her own in a giant city because she had outgrown the shrine and being around it just lost it's oomph as she came to realize the well wouldn't unseal and she would never again time-travel. But those days had been quite the experience. She still had scars on her forearm from firing the bow wrong.

But fifteen years away from all that had done Kagome some good. She was in the peak of her life, age thirty-three, no boyfriend, no kids, done with college, an apartment of her own, and expecting a nice fat promotion soon, so long as her fruit salad wasn't deadly to her boss, that is.

--

Kuwabara huffed slightly, glaring at his fellow teammates. Even the stoic (and mentally unstable, Kuwabara was sure) Hiei had begun to add his two cents into the teasing. No, Kuwabara thought, Hiei doesn't even have two cents! It's more like… like one and a half.

The retort in his mind was lame and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. They wouldn't shut up! "The one time you actually provide to the team, it was all an accident!" Yusuke belted, cackling further.

"Shuddup or I'll knock your teeth in, Urameshi!" Kuwabara warned, but the boy just continued to laugh. Hiei continued to chuckle. Kurama continued to hide a smile. Kuwabara was fed up with their behavior. He jammed his hands in his pockets before taking off down a back alley, away from those who laughed at him.

How dare they be so callous? He had just unintentionally saved their rears hadn't he? Sure, it really was unintentional. He had tripped and only the gods knew how he landed on their enemy, completely knocking the other out. It just wasn't natural, and since then everyone had been laughing at him.

There he was, Kazuma Kuwabara, age thirty-four with basically nothing to offer a woman, a dangerous job that would make any girl cringe in fear—heck sometimes he cringed, a sister who wouldn't let him move out, and a wonderful set of friends who were mean to him and called him dumb when he wasn't that stupid!

As Kuwabara exited the alleyway, a woman came crashing into him and both of them tumbled to the ground in a mass pile of jumbled limbs. He heard a smashing sound, but didn't pay attention to it much as he tried to save the woman from painfully connecting with the ground.

As they both righted themselves, he saw her massaging her wrist. "Are you okay?" he asked her, hoping she wasn't hurt.

"Yeah, thanks. But my fruit salad isn't. Sorry I ran into you." She apologized.

"No, it's my fault; I should have watched where I was going." Kuwabara told her, taking the blame upon himself. No girl should ever have to deal with guilt! "I'm Kazuma, by the way. If you'll let me, I'll buy you a new fruit salad…"

Kagome smiled, "I'm Kagome. You don't have to do that, but thanks."

The two bent down to try to pick up the pieces of the broken bowl. She shouldn't have chosen a glass dish, but it was too late for wishing. "You're right," Kuwabara said, crest-fallen. Women didn't like guys like him. He wasn't exactly a looker like the others. "I—"

"But if you wanted, you could help me pick out a new salad." Kagome said suddenly. Maybe, just maybe, this had brought her a good thing. She always hated to go to her work's pot-luck without accompaniment, and maybe this man would join her? It was worth a shot… She could clearly tell from the jeers coming from what she supposed were his friends in the alley that he wasn't taken. "And if you wouldn't mind, I'd enjoy company to my work's pot-luck…"

Kuwabara ignored Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama after that. He agreed to go. And on Kagome's part, she thought it was nice that he had offered to replace her salad in the first place. And apart from that, he had rescued her from a painful fall by instead taking the contact with the cement himself. "Really?" Kuwabara asked. "I know a good fruit salad at a deli nearby."

**-- **

Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama all watched as Kuwabara and the woman he had run into walked down the street, both of them dumping the glass into a garbage that was nearby before continuing on down. They blinked, seven eyelids going down in unison. Yusuke scratched his head in confusion. Kurama cocked his head curiously.

Hiei said what they were all thinking. "Did Kuwabara just walk down the street with a beautiful woman?"

……No one answered……

* * *

**End.**


	2. Fruit Cake

**Title: Fruit Salad  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha belong to their rightful owners. This story is the product of a lack of KuwabaraKagome fanfiction. Flames will not be tolerated._

**WARNING: In continuation of Fruit Salad. This is a series of one-shots and the chapters may not connect evenly. Flames will not be tolerated and are rude so don't do them, please. Be nice and considerate. This is and will always be a series of one-shot Kuwabara/Kagome pairings. **

* * *

Fruit Cake

She loved cooking with Kazuma. Every time she did, she got this feeling of warmth in her gut. They had been together for almost six months now and Christmas was nearing. Kazuma had wanted to host a nice dinner with his family and a few close friends, and that was why Kagome was cooking (though she thought it might have been a mistake...).

Most people liked turkey or roast duck or chicken for Christmas dinner, but Kazuma's family liked meatloaf and potatoes, and Kazuma's Aunt Danize (a real piece of work in herself, Kagome was sure... She had met dragons who were nicer, quite literally!) had invited Kagome to be the one to cook the meatloaf and potatoes. Everyone else would bring a dish to pass, but Kagome was the one who got the hard part, since everyone would eat some of the main course.

Kazuma knew how bad she was at cooking, and took it upon himself to try to help her get things right. He was, after all, her boyfriend. And he was spurned on by the fact that he just knew Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama wouldn't do the same. He was bound and determined to be better than all of his friends at _something_, if he couldn't manage fighting.

Okay, maybe Kurama might have helped Kagome cook, but Hiei and Yusuke definitely wouldn't have, and if they would have, he didn't want to know! He was quite happy thinking that they wouldn't do anything like that.

But it was hard not to break into fits of giggles every time Kagome messed up with the meatloaf. She acted like it was a personal offense, and even accused the raw hamburger of plotting against her and trying to ruin her life. Still, none of her mistakes couldn't be fixed by adding more of everything else that the recipe required.

Basically that meant that now there was enough 'meat' for five 'loaves'. He wasn't expecting to have such a large party, just a few family members and friends, but since there was so much food, Kagome was off in the other room calling a few of _her_ friends and family to join them.

Kazuma hoped Kagome's mother didn't bring her 'world class fruit cake'. It tasted god-awful. But then again, a sinister little grin spread across his face. He heard Kagome in the other room, "Oh, Mom, it's great here!... I know you don't like the idea of Kazuma moving in with me--Mom, please try not to yell--Yes, I know! My boss gave me a raise...Well, what do you expect, Mom? Souta's a man now... And well he should!"

Kazuma smoothed the grin off his face and turned away from the counter where he had been peeling the potatoes. Any second guests would begin arriving, or at least, Aunt Danize and her husband would arrive anyway. They always get to a party three hours early, which totally ticked Kazuma off when he remembered that.

"Kagome?" he called into the other room. The girl popped her head in. Goodness she looked so beautiful! She had her hair done in twin French braids, like pigtails, and she seemed to radiate innocence from her little smile. She was sucking on a tootsie sucker while she talked to her mom on the phone. "Is that your mom?" A nod was his answer. He placed his most pleasant smile on his face. "Would you ask her to bring her fruit cake? I just loved it last time I had it!"

Kagome blinked at him. He had spoken loud enough to be heard by her mother. "...Yes, Mom--that's right... Well, he said it, not me. You know I hate your fruit cake... She heard you Kazuma." Kagome looked suspicious of Kazuma, but he didn't mind. He would have to explain his actions and motive to Kagome, but he wouldn't do it until after his friends tried the "spectacular" fruit cake.

He turned back to peeling potatoes. That sinister smile was back. Oh, how fun. Finally he would have a chance to get back at Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke for their laughing at him six months ago. Granted, their laughing did make it so he met Kagome initially. If they had never laughed at him, he would never have taken off, and in turn, would never have crashed into Kagome.

But still! He chuckled. Kagome's voice had retreated into the bedroom again of their apartment. Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama would be _fighting_ over the bathroom! Kazuma no longer had the problem of needing a bathroom immediately after consuming the deadly fruit cake. He'd had it enough times that his stomach was practically rock hard.

It was the only thing that Kagome's mother couldn't cook. But it was also the one thing that her mother enjoyed cooking most, and so she made it for every family reunion—and their family seemed to have reunions once a month, and sometimes twice for good luck!

"Mom! I'm thirty-three!" came Kagome's voice from the other room after a distinct silence. "I consider myself very lucky to have Kazuma. He's... Mom, he's not at all like an ogre... He does not look like one... His aunt is, and does look like one, but that's besides the point... He's a big sweetheart, that's what he is!... No, I'm not yelling at you, Mom. You're just complaining about my boyfriend... No I won't break up with him... Listen to yourself! You're hung up on Inuyasha, that's what you are! You know, if I could see Inuyasha again—which I can't and you know I can't—it wouldn't even faze me at all! I'd still say the same thing."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow and his ear seemed to move of its own will toward the door to the bedroom so he could eavesdrop better. He had not ever heard much about Inuyasha, except that according to Kagome's brother, he was the coolest guy ever and saved Kagome's life 'hundreds' of times.

And also he heard from Kagome's mother that he was handsome and would have had the most adorable grand-children with Kagome. And from Kagome's insane grandfather (really, the guy was mentally unstable, calling everyone demons and plastering papers on their heads!) Inuyasha was a dangerous demon from five hundred years ago.

But that wasn't the point! The point was that Inuyasha seemed to be Kagome's ex-boyfriend. "Mom, don't say that! Of, of course I'm still a virgin!" Great, subject change. Right when it was getting interesting... wait a minute! Kagome just lied. To her mother! Kazuma hung his head slightly.

Kazuma knew Kagome wasn't a virgin: she had told him her first time had been with someone special to her, but hadn't said who (could it be Inuyasha? He wondered...). Just because Kagome had no kids didn't mean she was a virgin.

He perked up and went back to the potatoes. Of course, then again, Kagome probably would lie to her mother about that. Goodness! Who would tell their mother that they weren't a virgin until they were married?

Chopping the potatoes up became a mindless task that he was working on. Kagome hung up her conversation with her mother and came into the kitchen again. "I better start working on this again, shouldn't I? Before your Aunt comes."

Kazuma grinned at her, not showing her that he felt a bit miffed that she had lied about being a virgin. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her close to her, earning a giggle of surprise from her. "Or you could work on something a bit more interesting... like me?" He suggested in a low voice, a bare whisper in her ear.

"Kazuma--"she giggled before he caught her up in a chaste kiss, holding her in his strong arms. He loved to hold her like this. He loved to smell the lingering scent of shampoo in her hair. He loved to run his hands over her back and her abdomen and sides. He could be like this in private. He could be like this with her, and her alone.

But she pulled back away from him before he could kiss her too much. A groan escaped his lips before he could stop it, and he supposed it was better this way. Kagome didn't even know he was a Spirit Detective, or that a couple of his friends were demons. And there was a whole stretch of her life that she wouldn't talk about.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, a teasing tone in her voice. "But the potatoes won't cook themselves!" She waggled her finger at him for a second, before reaching around him for a napkin and wiping at his lips. "My lip gloss looks far better on me than it does on you, sweetie." she explained.

He smiled, "Thanks." There was a knock on their apartment door. "That'll be Aunt Danize."

--

The party was going spectacular and most of the guests had already arrived. Kagome's mom was exchanging recipes with Aunt Danize, and the Fruit Cake that she had brought was already on the table. Kagome was entertaining a group of Kazuma's lady cousins andhis sister. Kazuma was talking to a group of his guy cousins and his uncle.

Kagome's mom and Aunt Danize were sitting at the table in the kitchen. Kazuma and his group were standing in the living room off to the side in a circle to talk. Kagome and the ladies were seated on the furniture in the living room. There was only three more guests to arrive: Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei.

It wasn't like Kurama to be late, but he had figured if Yusuke showed he'd probably be at least an hour late, and he had a hunch that Hiei just wouldn't show up at all. But when there was a small knock on the door, he hastened to answer it, excusing himself politely from his group of cousins.

He opened the door. Kurama stood there, freshly showered. A vine was connecting Kurama to Hiei, though it was nearly invisible. However, Kazuma had no doubt it would be a very strong vine. Kazuma blinked and knew confusion was showing on his face. "What the..." he started.

Kurama smiled kindly. "Well, you did invite all of us, and to be honest, I wanted to make sure Hiei did not get lost on the way." The vine disappeared and Kurama nudged Hiei none-too-gently toward the entrance.

Hiei scowled and made his way in. "Oh." Kazuma replieduncertainly. "Glad you could make it, Hiei. There's...food, in the kitchen. We've been snacking on the hors d'ourves for a bit, waiting for you guys." He suddenly wasn't sure if he wanted to play his prank on them, or at least on Kurama. Really, the guy was a nice person. "Kagome didn't want to eat dinner without you guys here. Where's Yusuke?"

"He will be along in ten minutes. I told Keiko to make sure he comes." Kurama smiled, and Kazuma stepped aside so the man could get in. He wasn't like Hiei and could walk right under someone's arm without bending.

"Well, that's good. Aunt Danize was getting irritable, but Kagome placated her by saying the food wasn't even done yet." Kazuma shut the door behind them and they made their way into the living room, where Hiei separated from them and went to sulk in a corner. There was a necklace around his neck that was made of vines. Probably something Kurama would use to keep him from killing the rest of Kazuma's guests--which was good of course!

Kurama and Kazuma went to the gathering of men in the living room. Kazuma looked at Hiei sitting uncomfortably in the window seat of the living room and felt a bit of pity for the small guy. He didn't like social events, did he? No, really didn't like them. They were hell for him, weren't they? So should he play his prank on him?

Wasn't Hiei suffering enough, just being there?

"Kagome's a city girl, is she, Kazuma?" one of his cousins asked him. He nodded. "Well, why does she look like a country gal, hmm? You sure she ain't lying to you and screwin' some wierd guy on the side?"

Kazuma turned his full attention on his cousin and smiled. Be polite. He reminded himself. Be polite. Ram his head in! He clocked his cousin upside the head. "Say that again an' I'll just kick yah right out!" he said loudly.

"Or maybe she's screwin' him?" His cousin pointed to the corner Hiei had gone to, and Kazuma couldn't help but look for confirmation that it was Hiei he was pointing to. Hiei wasn't the type who would take another person's significant other, was he? No, he wouldn't. But his cousin was pointing at Hiei, and who was sitting next to his shrimpy friend? His girlfriend!

A scowl crossed his face as he watched Kagome evoke a small smile (or it could have been a smirk at Kagome's stupidity and humanity but...) from the small demon. How was this possible? Kagome wouldn't cheat on him, would she? "Kagome's just polite to people! That's the way she is!" Kazuma couldn't even make it sound believable in his own ears.

Kurama said, "Hiei is not cavorting with Miss Kagome. He has as little to do with humans as he can." Feeling reassured--slightly--Kazuma turned back to the conversation. With a glare at his cousin, the talk turned toward soccor and which of his cousin's schools would win, reminding Kazuma that all his cousins were twenty years younger than he. But no sooner had ten minutes passed by that Kagome stood and walked into the kitchen with Hiei following her with great interest sparked in his eyes.

What's going on? he asked himself, feeling unease settle in his gut. But he relaxed when he recalled that Kagome's mother and Aunt Danize were in the kitchen as well. The sounds of clattering dishes on the tables alerted him to the fact that Dinner was going to be starting very shortly. He tried not to let it worry him too much when Aunt Danize and Kagome's mother came into the living room and made a bee-line for the bathroom to check their hair, but three minutes was all he could stand, so he had to excuse himself.

"Excuse me," he apologized, disengaging himself from his cousins', uncle, and Kurama's conversation. He walked into the kitchen and looked around for his girlfriend, but there was no Kagome there. She didn't come out the kitchen through the living room door, so that left the only options to be that she left either through the front door of the apartment, or went into the bedroom. Hiei was nowhere in sight either.

He never had been able to feel Kagome's spirit, which in itself was very odd, but he could certainly feel Hiei's spirit and it was in the bedroom. What was going on? Why did this seem so very wrong? He approached the bedroom. How cliche, he thought. The bedroom door is open a crack. He peered into the room.

From this angle, he could see Kagome kneeling on the floor by the closet, digging for something under the floorboards. Wait? The floorboards? He didn't know they even came up! The closet had always been carpeted before. What was going on? He tilted his head and saw just a glimpse of Hiei's black clothes, farther back from where Kagome was kneeling.

Kagome wouldn't be cheating on him would she? He threw away that line of thinking as soon as itcame. Kurama was right, wasn't he? There was just no way in heck that Hiei would ever involve himself with a measly human like Kagome! He only associated himself with Kazuma and Yusuke because he was forced to.

"I've had it for years," Kagome was saying. "But it's not doing me any good to keep it, I suppose. There's nothing left in it. After I used it, I had to make absolutely sure no one else would be able to." Kazuma felt his gut clench slightly. No. She wasn't conspiring against him. She wasn't cheating on him. He _wasn't_ just lucky to have her as his girlfriend;she loved him in return... didn't she?

There was movement in the small demon. He moved closer to Kagome. "I can't believe you've had it all this time and that orange haired moron didn't even realize it." He sounded amused. So he was going to talk about Kazuma like that, was he? It made Kazuma's blood boil to know that.

Kagome turned, her hands holding a small jewelry box. There was a look of disapproval on her face. Kazuma couldn't see Hiei's face, but guessed the demon was smirking. "Now, now. Be nice." she said, still frowning. "If anyone here is a moron, I would say it is you for refusing to accept the inevitable and refusing to associate yourself with others."

So there! Kazuma thought satisfactorily. The little demon was bristling. "You're delusional. I need not associate myself with anyone. All you humans do is hold me back." Kagome chuckled. "What's so funny?" Hiei snapped.

She waved her hand dismissively, now smiling (but it looked more like a smirk to him). "Oh, nothing, nothing. It's just that I had a friend who was just like you. It amuses me to no end when I remember what became of him." She held out the small box toward Hiei and he took it. "You're welcome, Hiei. I don't know what you'll do with a shell of the original, but you're welcome to it anyway."

Hiei opened the box but his shoulder was in the way of Kazuma's line of vision into the box. "So where's the original?" Hiei inquired. Kagome said nothing, but held her closed fist to her heart. "Ridiculous human." He snapped the box shut and stuffed it in his pant's pocket. It wasn't all that big of a box, perhaps the size of a wedding band box.

"Right, and remember your promise?" Kagome persisted.

Hiei scoffed. "I, at least, keep my word. I'll find this person for you."

Kazuma moved away from the bedroom door quickly, moving to the sink. Kagome and Hiei were only seconds behind him exiting the bedroom, but Kazuma pretended to be busy at the sink. "Thank you, Hiei." Kagome said as they reentered the kitchen, and Kazuma turned, mustering up anger (it wasn't terribly hard to do) and hiding his confusion. What was going on between his girlfriend and his not-so-close best friend?

"The hell? Why were you in the bedroom with _him_?" he demanded of Kagome, as if he only just now figured outshe was in there with Hiei. "Hiei, I swear if you did anything I'll--"

"Relax," Hiei said gruffly. "She's not worth my time anyway, and she's far too ugly." Before Kazuma could whack him for that rude comment, Kagome retaliated. She made it look like she was just yawning and stretching, but like a cruel little feline, his girlfriend "accidentally" hit Hiei in the process. With both hands? How did that happen?

"Oops! I'm so sorry, Hiei!" she apologized in a very unsincere voice. Hiei scoffed and glared at her, massaging his cheek before reentering the living room, at which time Kagome moved over to Kazuma again. "Don't worry, sweetie. I know Hiei has a sweet-tooth for candy, so I got him some and in return, he has promised to meet with one of my best friends on a date, since she hasa sweet-tooth for him! Isn't that cute?" Her little nose scrunched up and Kazuma relaxed.

It was so amazing how Kagome managed to figure Hiei out (and bribe him) into doing something. And live to tell about it! Wahaha! He had a very sinister girlfriend! It was just a very good thing that Yukina rejected him all those years ago. He was grinning and he knew it. There was a knock at the door.

"That must be Yusuke and Keiko!" Kagome said with a smile and walked over to the door, away from Kazuma. "Keiko called and said they were on their way just a few minutes ago." Finally! They could get started on the dinner party.

It wasn't until after all the guests had gone (Yusuke, Keiko, Kurama, and Hiei included, and Aunt Danize and Uncle both kicked out when it got late) that Kazuma remembered his evil little plot to make his friends eat the fruit cake.

Damn.

--

Hiei groaned. He must have eaten something that just didn't agree with his stomach. That's why he always said humans were dangerous in the kitchen!

A knock on the bathroom door told him that Kurama was on the other side. "Hiei, if you're that sick, you can sleep on the couch tonight." Kurama said. "I'm going to bed."

Hiei wanted to murder someone. But what did the bathroom smell like? Fruit?

**

* * *

End.**


	3. Fruit Punch

**Title: Fruit Salad  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha belong to their rightful owners. This story is the product of a lack of KuwabaraKagome fanfiction. Flames will not be tolerated._

**WARNING: In continuation of Fruit Salad. This is a series of one-shots and the chapters may not connect evenly. Flames will not be tolerated and are rude so don't do them, please. Be nice and considerate. This is and will always be a series of one-shot Kuwabara/Kagome pairings. **

* * *

Fruit Punch

Kagome's favorite thing at a party was the fruit punch. There was always just something about fruit punch that gave a party the personality it needed to continue on late into the night. And when the fruit punch ran out, that meant it was time to get everyone to go home.

Things hardly ever worked that way anymore though. Fruit punch was simply never seen in arms reach of a party. In fact, a person never really even questioned the lack of it either, because people didn't touch the fruit punch with a ten foot pole. Simply put, no one cared about the fruit punch.

"Kazuma, let's stop at the store tonight and get some fruit punch for the party!" Kagome said suddenly as she and her boyfriend Kazuma Kuwabara walked down the street together. She had her arm linked with his and he felt like a million dollars with her by his side. He always felt good with her near, but even after almost a year with her it was still strange.

Sometimes he would even wake up and wonder if he had dreamt it all. He was instantly reassured by the fact that she was sleeping right there next to him, but still he had his doubts. After years of abuse by his friends, and girl after girl turning him down, the diamond that was Kagome had fallen into his arms just all of a sudden.

Actually, he had more accurately knocked her over and tried to catch her. But lately, he always felt so self-conscious because he had a terrible secret he was keeping from her. He wasn't telling her one tiny detail of his life because he knew in his heart that she would freak out and dump him.

His friends kept telling him to just tell Kagome what he did for a living--what he really did--but he couldn't. Honestly, who would believe that Kazuma was a Spirit Detective for a demi-god named Koenma and he killed rampaging demons for a living? Just by continuing to associate himself with Kagome, he ran the risk of putting her in danger. The truly honorable thing to do would be to tell her the truth.

Truth, smuth. No one cared about the truth. Kagome was fine thinking he worked for a detective agency that sometimes required him to have extended vacations from his girlfriend in which he could not see her and didn't know if she would be meeting with some exceptionally good looking model at the company she worked for.

In the year that Kazuma had known Kagome, she had decided that there wasn't any room for advancement at the company she had worked at for several years and she got a new job working as a photographer for a different company and went back to school to take some classes on history and other things related to history.

Mythology and folk lore was a hobby she had. Kagome wouldn't tell Kazuma, but even though she was getting to be older and she had left the past in the past for the most part, there was someone she wanted to find. She knew that Kazuma was keeping a secret from her, but she let him keep it since she did have her own.

Aside from that, she thought she already knew his secret. He had demon friends and he probably thought she would be scared if she knew the truth behind Hiei's stuck hair and crimson eyes. She knew the truth, but Kazuma would have more questions for her if he knew she knew so she kept it a secret.

Hiei knew that she knew what he was, but he was about as likely to tell Kazuma as he was to cut his arms and legs off. Generally people liked their arms and legs; Hiei wasn't an exception. He was short enough.

"Fruit punch?" Kazuma asked his girlfriend, looking down at her for a moment before paying attention to where he was walking again. "What the hell is fruit punch? I never heard of such a thing."

"It's like Kool-Aid but with zest." Kagome replied evenly, smiling at him. She could see herself growing old with the man she was walking with... so long as he never learned that she had spent four years of her life traipsing about in the feudal era to which she had traveled by jumping into a dried up old well. He would have her committed if she did tell him.

"You drink Kool-Aid with soap in it?" he asked with a disgusted look. To be quite honest, he had never heard of anyone putting Zest soap in their Kool-Aid, but then again he had never met a girl before Kagome that would actually date him. Even Yukina turned him down though she never explained why exactly. Kazuma could easily guess by the look on her face as she looked at Hiei.

Yukina had liked Hiei. It had been almost traumatizing to find that out. There was no other explanation for the way she had looked. Other than through Kazuma, Hiei didn't know Yukina and she didn't know him. The two were very dissimilar. The only reason fire apparitions had for use of any ice related demon was to become stronger. If a fire apparition killed an ice demon, their power would supposedly grow exponentially.

Kazuma had always wondered why Hiei didn't kill Yukina. If what the shrimpy guy wanted most in the whole world was power, then he could get that easily by killing Yukina. Of course, the other Spirit Detectives would most certainly not stand for such behavior, but what was stopping him?

Kazuma paused in his step, causing Kagome to give him an odd look. What if Hiei liked Yukina? What if that was the reason Yukina had refused Kazuma? What if they were having a secret love affair? A wicked grin manifested itself on his face; that had to be it.

"Kazu!" Kagome complained, hitting his arm lightly. "You haven't even listened to a word I said!"

He looked at her with astonishment. How did she know? "Of course I was listening. I always listen..." His defense was weak, sounded weak, and he knew it.

Kagome said, "Then what did I just say?" A successful smirk crossed her face as his lips flapped uselessly, no sound coming out. "As I thought."

"You said you wanted Kool-Aid with soap! I know what you were saying," he said, trying to fix the situation. She shook her head, obviously not falling for his little fib. "Aw, Kagome, I listened..."

She flicked her hair over her shoulder and said, "I'm not getting any younger, Kazu. It's not fair if I listen to you but you don't return the favor! What if we had kids? Would you listen then?"

She saw an instant change on his face at the thought of kids. He said, "Kids? Really? I love kids! Oh, just wait 'till the guys hear we're going to have a kid." He was joking, because he knew her tactic. She wouldn't have kids. She said she'd had enough of children.

She paled under her pig tails. "I was only joking, Kazuma," she said in a quiet voice. An embarrassed blush crossed her face and she couldn't bear to look at him. She knew it was a sore spot with him. He loved children, and he wanted to have some of his own.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it. It was the terrible secret she had kept from him that stopped her. If only she wouldn't seem completely insane if she told him she spent four years of high school hopping through a well like it meant something.

Kazuma was a sweet man, he really was. She loved him with her entire heart and soul. But she didn't want to know what he would think of her if she told him. So she simply kept it a secret. If she were honest with herself, she was a priestess; she was trained and ready to kick demon ass at no moments notice.

But then again, she was getting to be older and older. Soon she would be finding gray hairs among the black, and she would have age wrinkles on her face. There was nothing she could do to help that, except to find a successor to the legacy of the Living Jewel.

After the final battle, Kagome had taken the jewel in her hand and she had made a wish that she become the jewel. The jewel's evil had turned that magic against her, so technically speaking she was like a walking, living, breathing genie that lived in an apartment instead of a bottle.

But there was a catch to this particular genie. She got to choose what wishes to grant, even though no wish could ever be granted for her. She blinked away tears that she didn't know where they came from.

Kazuma took his silently crying girlfriend in his arms and rubbed his hands on her back. He pulled her carefully out of the way of other walking pedestrians on the sidewalk and wondered why she was crying. It was the very first time she had ever been sad in his presence, though he had the feeling she was that way more often than he realized.

"I was just kidding about that soap thing," he said, trying to calm her.

It worked, marginally. She let out a wet little laugh. "I know," she said.

He said, "And you know I don't need kids! I'm happy just with you."

"I know," she agreed. She knew he was going to talk again, so instead she looked up at him, kissing him to quiet him. Why did this man have to be so understanding of her? Inuyasha was oblivious to her feelings; he always had been. And Kouga's love for her had been more infatuation toward the fact that she could see the jewel shards.

But this man? He didn't do anything half-asked. He loved unconditionally, and she wanted to give that back to him ten-fold. He brought her the most beautiful flowers, sold at his friend Shuichi's flower store when he came back on his business trips. And when she woke in the morning, he was always there to croak out a goofy song and serve her toast and orange juice and oatmeal.

"That was wet," Kazuma pointed out, wiping the tears from her face with his sleeve. She laughed and he held her in his arms. They were in public, but she didn't care. She was getting to be far too old to care; it was time she started to settle and have something of a normal life. Right?

She said, "Fruit punch. Let's take some to the party."

He nodded. "Okay. But Zest soap is pretty expensive. Can we substitute it with some cheaper brand?" She laughed again and kissed his cheek, then they began walking again. They veered course and stopped at the grocery store for fruit punch to take to the party they were headed to.

Kazuma's friend Yusuke Urameshi, and his fiancée were having a bachelor/bachelorette party together. Everyone was responsible to bring something. When the couple got to the party, they saw they weren't the only ones who even bothered to show up.

It seemed Yusuke had a lot of friends who had a lot of hair color preferences. Many of them were strange looking; one was barely out of high school and kept playing with yo-yos. Kagome saw that Kazuma glared at the young boy with particular venom, but at a nudge from Kagome, he calmed down.

Kagome saw that even Hiei had been coaxed out of whatever rock he liked to hide under and he was most uncomfortably sitting in a window seat of Yusuke's small house, with what looked to be a little girl chattering in his ear ceaselessly. However, the 'girl' was actually a boy, and Kagome knew this.

Kagome smiled at Hiei, catching his eye. He actually did what she asked, finally. She decided she would wait until later to leave Kazuma's side and talk to Hiei. She did want to talk to him, but she decided it would be better to hold off just a little longer.

Kazuma saw where Kagome was looking and said, "That girl's been hanging around him for a month now. Or boy. Geez, it's hard to tell, really."

"It's a boy, and his name is Dyske." Kagome responded automatically. Kazuma gave her an odd look of, 'how did you know?' but she simply smiled in response and said nothing to the unasked question. She knew, simply because she knew.

Kagome set her fruit punch on the table with the other snacks. It seemed very out of place, because right next to it were several trays of various Little Debbie snacks and on the other side was an assortment of soda. She had purchased small paper cups to go along with the fruit punch, and those were also set next to the pitcher.

Just as she finished setting the pitcher down, the boy Dyske came running over to Kagome and Kazuma. He scuffed his pink fluffy bow slippers on the floor, his look bashful. "Ah, hi." He said to Kagome. "Mr. Hiei said to come bother you. What does it mean to 'bother' somebody?"

Kazuma looked at Hiei, then back at the kid. "Uh, look kid… Um." He had no idea how to respond to the kid. He usually was pretty good with kids, but this time he had no idea what to say. The kid looked like he could be six or seven years old, and by that age kids always knew what it meant to be a bother.

Kagome chuckled and bent down to Dyske's level. "To bother someone, it means you are causing various trouble in their life. But no worries." She poked the boy's sharp nose and said, "We're not bothered at all. Hiei is just grumpy because no one is giving him candy lately."

"How come?" Dyske asked, his face filled with wonder. He tried to sneak a look at Hiei, but ended up just looking very suspicious.

Kazuma placed his arms on Kagome's shoulder, bending to speak in her ear. "Sorry to leave you alone, but Yusuke's calling me over." He said. Kagome smiled at him, encouraging him to go. Kagome took Dyske by the hand and led him to a corner of the room. As she sat, she arranged her skirt neatly, and Dyske tried to imitate it.

"Because he had too much candy, and now he can't have it or it will hurt him." Kagome said quietly.

Dyske looked at her with amazement. "Woah! Candy can hurt someone? I didn't know it could do that."

Kagome nodded. "When someone eats too much of it, they can get something called an addiction. Hiei loves all sorts of sweets, but one day all that candy he ate caught up to him and he fainted because he couldn't have sugar. Now he just has to be very careful."

"Oh! And having an addiction makes people cranky? If I eat candy, will I become cranky like Mr. Hiei?"

Kagome laughed. "Probably not. But if have a steady diet of only sugar, there is bound to be some sort of defect. He's been binging on candy for almost a year now, so it's hurting him. And his friends love him so much, they keep him away from candy. But addictions don't make people cranky so much as the fact that they can't have what they want."

"Well!" Dyske huffed slightly. He turned his nose up in the air like someone Kagome used to know. "It won't ever be me!" It was almost like Kagome could see the little puppy dog ears flickering atop Dyske's head.

Kagome watched Dyske with a thoughtful look, and then she smiled. At least someone had found him. "I'm glad you're okay, Dyske." She said to him.

He looked up at her, confused for a moment, and then he smiled brightly. "Yup! No iceberg can stop Mr. Hiei!"

Kagome looked up as Hiei came over. The short man glared at the two of them, but both of them smiled evenly. "I need to talk to you." Hiei said. He felt Kazuma's eyes glaring into his back but he didn't care much for the orange haired guy's jealousies.

Kagome said to Dyske, "You wait here, okay? I'll be right back, okay?" Dyske nodded and Kagome followed Hiei into the kitchen. He instantly looked at her, but he didn't speak right away. "You can't stay quiet forever," she pointed out. "We did have a bargain."

He nodded briskly and said, "I found Dyske in the cave you spoke of. He was frozen in ice, just like you said. Obviously I completed my half of the bargain, but you may wish to know that Dyske wasn't the only one frozen there."

Kagome bit her lip, thinking. What she had done was send Hiei on a mission to find Dyske. Dyske was the son of a very unusual pair: Sesshoumaru the aristocratic assassin, and Sango the demon exterminator. A demon and an exterminator had long ago been brought together although it took place after Kagome returned from that world for the final time, so she didn't know any of the details of why.

Still, it was such an odd pairing that when she accidentally stumbled on the story several months ago she had to do some investigating. She found that shortly after the timeline stated the disappearance of the Genie of the Jewel which was her, a new evil named Myonagi appeared.

Myonagi was a vicious witch and she sought power above all else. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango united to fight Myonagi when they heard of her, according to the story, but were unsuccessful many times. Myonagi, out of hatred for the three fighters, created a powerful poison gas. It affected all the creatures in the area, but worse of all, it affected the demons.

The result was a baby boom. Kagome really wasn't too sure how Myonagi could make it so even a powerful demon like Sesshoumaru was affected (by a poison, no less!). Kagome never really got along with Sesshoumaru much, but she felt bad for him. He hated humans; the only acceptable one was Rin. Yet, Rin wasn't the one he had a child with. Instead it was the enemy of his kind!

"Do you know who else it was?" Kagome asked Hiei, feeling her hands wringing her dress sleeve. Hiei's eyes watched her hands as she tried to tear the sleeve to pieces unconsciously. Didn't she know he was very irritated at the moment? He hadn't had a single bit of sugar in eight days because living with Kurama meant his diet was regulated at home, and working with Kurama meant his diet was regulated every-fricken-where else.

"Sorry, miko. They don't keep plaques up there depicting the animals. People don't even realize those caves exist. Stop wringing the cloth. One of them has a weathered look, like an old crone. She was missing an ear and several fingers and a leg. Another is a woman with black hair." Hiei told Kagome.

Kagome nodded absentmindedly. "I see." He became irritated at her fidgeting and he grabbed her hands, pulling them away from the cloth. She gave him a surprised look, glancing down at him.

"Stop it," he snapped. He took a few breaths to calm himself but he was still holding onto her hands. She looked at her hands, then pointedly looked at him. He dropped her hands like a hot brick even though hot bricks really wouldn't affect him. Come to think of it, neither would ice bricks...

"Thank you," she said. "Will you take care of Dyske? I wouldn't even know where to begin with a demon child." It wasn't true. She'd taken care of Shippou for a good long time, but he didn't know that. Besides, she thought having Dyske would be a leveling thing for Hiei.

"I can't!" Hiei again spoke in a clipped tone of voice. "I'm no better than you with kids, not to mention I hate kids."

She giggled and smiled. "Thanks! I knew I could count on you. I promise as soon as I find a home for him, he'll be out of your hair." She had zero-to-no intention to look for a new home for Dyske. For one, the little half-breed would probably only go kicking and screaming. Kagome noticed they tended to be more on the devoted side when it came to people.

She stepped back into the living room and found Dyske again. The little boy was adjusting his skirts and entertaining a few of the women, including Keiko the bride-to-be. She joined the crowd of ladies, congratulating Keiko and listening as Dyske talked of childish things.

Throughout the party, Kagome went to the table of munchies several times for the fruit punch that she and Kazuma had brought. Mostly she enjoyed listening to Kazuma and Yusuke boast who had the better female companion. Kazuma would say Kagome was good at one thing, and Yusuke would say that Keiko was good at an entirely different thing. She would have interfered with their argument if it escalated to 'bedroom qualities' except the two boys seemed to have sense.

Soon, Kagome found herself talking with Shuichi Minamino, one of Kazuma and Yusuke's friends. She'd always felt there was something off about him, but never could figure out what it was. Indeed, he was a very handsome man, and she enjoyed his company from time to time, but also at the same time he just didn't compare well to Kazuma.

"Good afternoon, Miss Kagome," Shuichi said, a kind smile on his face as they met at the munchies table. Kagome was back for her fourth cup of fruit punch at that time, and Shuichi had come for a bottle of water in the cooler beside the table.

"And in return, Mr. Shuichi!" she said brightly. "You really ought to try the fruit punch Kazuma and I brought. It does do a number on your taste buds."

He waved the water bottle, that same smile still on his face. "I prefer water, but I thank you for the offer." he said, not unkindly. Kazuma always tried whatever she offered him. Then again, Kazuma seemed to harbor some small fear that if he didn't do everything perfectly, Kagome would break up with him. Kazuma was silly like that.

And it made her giggle too, when he sometimes did something that he thought was wrong and then he would begin to panic. But he was just so sweet and so adorable that she loved him. It was as though the rest of the world did not matter; it was just the two of them.

"So how is Hiei doing?" Kagome inquired. If anyone would know, it would be Shuichi since he and Hiei shared an apartment. Although Kazuma had mentioned that Shuichi might move out of that apartment and into his girlfriend's apartment. Apparently it wasn't manly to have to share a one-bedroom apartment with a friend while dating.

"He has not had sugar for days, but it's been hard for him. I honestly had no idea anyone could be so addicted to candy." Shuichi took a drink from his cool water bottle and then recapped it.

Kagome shook her head. "After the severe amounts Kazuma said Hiei would eat, I'm surprised Hiei doesn't have any medical problems." She didn't know the exact details surrounding Diabetes, but she thought it had something to do with candy, or things rich in sugar. "At least he has you all to help him." She didn't even want to think of the teeth problems that Hiei could have. It was a miracle he even still had teeth.

Right after that, Kagome had to go separate Kazuma from Yusuke as Keiko pulled her fiancee away. The two boys, in their argument, had decided that just words wouldn't be enough. Kagome took Kazuma away from the party after that. When they got home, Kazuma said, "You're way better than Keiko." She smiled at him, not entirely agreeing, but she kissed him anyway.

--

Hiei glared at the young boy sitting on his couch. He'd already been stuck with the child for a month. What the hell was he supposed to do with the little crossdresser until Kagome found a home for him? And really, why was Hiei even letting Dyske disgrace the demon spieces by wearing a dress when he was male?

He said to Dyske, "Get your coat and shoes! We're getting you normal clothes."

**

* * *

End.**


	4. Fruit Pie

**Title: Fruit Salad  
**Author: Tsubasa Kya  
_Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha belong to their rightful owners. This story is the product of a lack of KuwabaraKagome fanfiction. Flames will not be tolerated._

**WARNING: In continuation of Fruit Salad. This is a series of one-shots and the chapters may not connect evenly. Flames will not be tolerated and are rude so don't do them, please. Be nice and considerate. This is and will always be a series of one-shot Kuwabara/Kagome pairings. **

* * *

Fruit Pie

Kazuma felt extreme guilt lacing through him the more time he spent with Kagome. He loved her so much, but then he thought of the work he had to do and the fact that she had no clue about any of it.

"Kazu," she twirled in front of him in a very pretty yellow sundress and tan sandals. Everyone was bugging him to tell Kagome the truth lately. Even _Hiei_ told him to just tell the truth. And really, who was Hiei to talk anyway? The guy was trying to transform a crossdressing little boy into a real little boy who wore boy clothes and everything.

Plus, Hiei was a sugar-loving diabetic who was always grouchy! It was surprising how the little boy Dyske took care of Hiei in the absence of Kurama. They were all getting older and Kurama was getting rather serious in his relationship with a woman named Kotoko Something-or-other.

So what did Hiei know about relationships anyway? He had never been in any relationship, ever! All Hiei had now was Dyske who sternly refused to let Hiei come into contact with anything that could jeopardize his health. And for some reason, Hiei listened!

But why did everyone keep pressuring Kazuma to tell the truth? Kurama _said_ it was because the longer Kazuma waited, the worse it will be when she finally learns the truth. But she was the best thing that ever happened to Kazuma, ever. Did he want to lose her over the issue of the Spirit World and the job he did daily?

What if he just quit the Spirit World? He constantly thought about doing it, but at the same time he worried if he did that, something would happen and Kagome would be attacked or something.

It was almost a past he couldn't escape.

"Kazu?" Kazuma jerked back to reality and felt his face burning. "You faded out on me for a minute there, Kazuma." Kagome placed a loving hand on his arm and his guilt magnified. He was just being so deceptive… "Are you feeling okay? We don't have to go to the carnival."

Kazuma looked at her for a moment and shoved a smile on his face. "I'm okay. I guess the incident on the news last night must be bothering me more than I thought…" He was getting quick at recovery lies, but to him that was dishonest bad news. If only… if only he weren't so sure she would freak out and leave him if she knew…

Kagome smiled at her boyfriend and touched his face with a warm hand. Today, there was something forced about that smile. She had worried last night that he wouldn't want to go to the carnival after the news, and her worry appeared to be real. On the news, one of the Ferris Wheels had malfunctioned and stopped moving. No one had been hurt, but the carnival had closed early for maintenance purposes.

"It'll be okay," Kagome said with surety. "It's a man-made machine. We know the risk we're taking simply by building these things. Nothing is perfect. Let's go to the carnival and have a good time."

Her words, 'nothing is perfect' struck him like a bolt of lightning. It was double edged, but he knew she didn't mean it toward him. Still, he felt worse about hiding his secret now. He thought, maybe he'd drop a few hints today to see how she would react… just maybe if she reacted well enough, he could tell her during the evening fireworks?

"Come on, sweetie," she said, kissing his cheek. She grabbed up a pink wrapped box and tucked it under her arm before approaching the door. "We'll be late meeting the others if you don't hurry!" she teased him with a short wink and a grin.

She hoped to ease some of his discomfort. She got the feeling that today would be a very eventful day, but nothing gave her any reason to think those events would be bad ones, and she intended to enjoy this day with Kazuma.

She watched as the man she loved let out a small chuckle before he followed her out of their apartment. In a few moments, they were walking toward the carnival. "Hiei's gonna be mad if you give that to Dyske." Kazuma pointed out, eying the pink box. He knew what was in it.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Kagome laughed. "But he'll get over it, because Dyske will be so cute!" Her nose wrinkled in good cheer and Kazuma laughed outright. He really enjoyed watching Kagome and Dyske and it made him even happier to watch how the anger built in Hiei's eyes at seeing the two interact. His friend's discomfort was his happiness.

"Oh, by the way!" Kagome said, "There's a pie eating contest at the carnival today, so we should be careful to avoid it or Hiei might get ideas."

Kazuma scratched the back of his head. "Really, it's been almost a year since he was told not to eat sugary substances," now that he thought about time-frames…it had been almost a year and a half since he met Kagome… "You'd think he'd have learned by now."

"He can't control himself," Kagome pointed out.

Kazuma agreed, "I know, but still… I kind of feel bad for him, since our boss keeps a jar of candy on his desk."

"A lot of people keep candies on their desk. Leffie at work," Kagome was still working as a photographer for a major modeling company (which meant photography was equal to being paid to see mostly naked men and women all day long, oh how he loathed her job but could not tell her…) "keeps a jar of peppermints on her desk. Every time someone takes a peppermint from the jar, it moo's."

"Koenma put the jar there only after Kurama told him Hiei was a diabetic. He kind of smirked and said 'Really?' before having his assistant Botan run to the store."

"Wow…" Kagome ran a finger along the edge of the wrapped box. "Nefarious boss." Kazuma nodded in agreement. "I suddenly like my boss more." He couldn't hold back a laugh at that. Her boss at the modeling company was a stiff, grungy old fat bastard who milked his employees for overtime and paid them less than they were worth. The only reason most people stayed there rather than finding a new job was because of the promise that the bosses' kind son would take over.

"Kagome-sama!" called the little boy Dyske as the two of them rounded the corner and saw the approaching carnival gate. Dyske stood with Hiei, Kurama and his fiancée Kotoko, and Yusuke and his fiancée Keiko. Today Dyske looked like a little boy, dressed in baggy jean shorts, black sandals with Velcro straps, and a black tee-shirt. His hair was still wet as if he'd just taken a shower. Hiei wore his customary black on black, but at least he'd left his cloak at home.

Yusuke wore a green shirt and blue jean shorts and Keiko wore a green sundress with a soft purple, sheer over-shirt and tan sandals. Kotoko wore a pink sundress with a white sash and white sandals, and Kurama wore a red shirt and black slacks. Kagome greeted them all while Kazuma pulled Kurama aside to warn him about the pie eating contest.

Dyske's eyes fell on the pink box and he bounced up and down in excitement. Kagome had promised him a present the next time she saw him. She laughed and handed him the present. He tore the paper off and threw away the box cover. Kagome, Kotoko, and Keiko were left scrambling for little bits of paper before it could blow away.

By the time they had all the paper in the garbage, Dyske was squealing with sheer joy. "Kagome-sama, it's the most beautiful thing I ever seen!" He hugged the frilly pink dress to his chest happily while glancing around at the others. Kotoko and Keiko were smiling behind their hands. Kurama's eyes twinkled and his lips twitched upward. Kazuma and Yusuke were bellowing in uncontained humor. Hiei looked ready for murder.

Kagome grabbed Dyske's hand and led him into the park. "Come on, then. Let's find a bathroom and see how it fits!"

"My mommy always had me fitted for pretty kimonos and brushed my hair and loved me and taught me to be graceful and gracious and giving! She taught me to love nature and everything!" Dyske said cheerfully. "Daddy didn't like me looking pretty! Daddy was mean and called me weak!"

That did sound like Sesshoumaru, and now that Kagome thought of it, if something had forced Sango to have Sesshoumaru's child, Sango probably wouldn't neglect the child but she would probably do whatever she could to make sure Sesshoumaru was miserable. And Sesshoumaru seemed the honorable type who would do what was right no matter how disgusted he was at being forced to follow his father's footsteps.

"Your daddy was a snooty old bumpkin," Kagome told Dyske as the others followed. Most of them seemed surprised that Kagome said anything about Dyske's father. Most of the time she avoided that subject and no one really knew how Kagome knew Dyske, but they did know she knew him somehow. "You shouldn't take his words to heart, Dyske."

"I know!" Dyske chirped, carrying his precious dress over one arm. "Mommy told me that too. I think mommy and daddy didn't like each other."

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Kagome said. "Look! There's the bathroom. Why don't you try it on?" Dyske skipped toward the Ye-Olde-Port-e-potty and Kagome joined Kotoko and Keiko to wait. Kurama was discretely informing Yusuke of the pie eating contest. Within seconds, Kotoko and Keiko were cheering Kagome's bravery.

"I'd never want to be pitted against Hiei, and you're always doing stuff like this." Kotoko laughed slightly.

Keiko nodded. "Yeah, Kagome! You've got a lot of guts. And such a brilliant pink too. Hiei must be fuming."

Kagome laughed in embarrassment. "I didn't do it to bother Hiei. I know Dyske loves pink and frills and a dress so I sewed it together using scraps from the dress I made to wear to Keiko's wedding next month."

Dyske came flying out of the bathroom, black Velcro sandals slapping the pavement happily. "I'm so pretty!" he said happily. He spun around for the girls to see. The dress only went as far as his knees and was sleeveless. Loaded with frills, his bottom looked like a bell.

"Yes, you are!" Kagome and the girls praised him while Hiei started wandering off, almost acting in a manner of 'I do not know these people'.

Yusuke asked, "What'd ya do with your other clothes?"

"Threw them away!" Dyske said. "I didn't need them anymore."

Hiei said, "You will pay me in full by tomorrow for the cost of the clothes, Higurashi."

Kagome looked at Hiei in surprise. He had stopped walking away. He was glaring at her in severe anger. His voice was leveled off dangerously. "Oh…okay…" she agreed.

"Five hundred dollars." He said.

Kazuma let a strangled shriek out, "Five hundred?"

Hiei calmly started walking away again. "I'm tacking on emotional trauma charges." He stated.

Dyske skipped after Hiei. "Mr. Hiei! Don't I look pretty?"

"Maybe if you were a girl." Hiei said coldly.

"But I'm not a girl," Dyske said in confusion.

"Then I guess you're not pretty," Hiei snapped. In less time than it took to blink, Hiei had gone and left Dyske with them.

Kazuma shouted, "I don't care if he does land at that pie eating contest! It'd serve him right, the bastard!"

Kagome sighed. "Well, let's not let him ruin the day. I've waited far too long for this day to come and no short, grouchy diabetic is going to wreck it for me." She, the girls, and Dyske then led the remaining three men further into the carnival where they played carnival games, won teddy bear prizes, and had a great time riding the Strawberry Whirly-Twirl. They assumed Hiei had left the park because they never saw him again for the rest of the evening.

--

Hiei hadn't left the park entirely. He was frustrated and didn't want to go home yet. If he went home, any one of them would be able to find him. And so he made his way through the crowds determining to just keep his Jagan searching for their aura and keeping a safe distance from them.

After an hour of simply wandering around a boring old building looking at carnival exhibits that children had done, he moved on to the animal exhibits. The rabbits pressed themselves to the back of the cage when he peered in, the cows and horses pranced, and the pigs oinked noisily and scuttled around their pens. The chickens and roosters were the only ones unperturbed by his appearance.

Once he got bored of looking at the animals, he put those buildings behind him and moved to the vendors. He thought maybe some ice cream would put him in a better mood, but then remembered the last time he'd snuck a handful of sweets, just a few weeks ago. He'd ended up in the hospital for three days.

He sighed then and left the ice cream line. How did it work? The 'condition' he had seemed so troublesome and hindering. He loved sweets so much and he was so close to them…he was surrounded by them right as he walked.

Cotton candy vendor…

Ice cream vendor…

A cow barn—being a barn that sold all sorts of products made of cow milk…

A general food stand…

A pie vendor…

A big sign saying 'Pie Eating Contest – Sign up here'…

He backtracked and stared with wide eyes at the sign. He could do it. He walked up to the pie vendor and read the sign. First prize, 100. Second prize, 50. Third prize, three free fruit pies, winner's choice.

It would be so easy to get third place… three free fruit pies… Wait…if he got first place he could buy even more fruit pies… And if he killed the other contestants, he could win without eating so much that he would end up in the hospital again.

Something of his desire must have shown on his face because he heard a chuckle from the pie vendor. "We've got twelve contestants, and four of them are sumo sized." Hiei looked at the pie vendor and attempted to smooth his features into his usual stone gaze. But he wanted those pies so much. "I don't think you'd manage winning, but each contestant that signs up does get all the pies they eat up on the stand for free."

Hiei couldn't stop the sigh before it escaped. He looked back at the sign and shook his head. "I wish I could. Unfortunately it seems my body doesn't like sugar anymore and even more unfortunate is that I doubt it would be acceptable to kill the other contestants to win."

"Ah," the pie vendor nodded knowingly. "You must be a diabetic, huh?" Hiei found himself nodding before he could stop and realize that it was no business of the pie vendor's. "Well, I do have a diabetic pie. It costs a bit more per slice, but here." He disappeared for a moment and came back to the window with a small plate and fork. On top of the plate was a thin slice of pie. He laughed a little bit. "Unfortunately it costs more, and you get less… but this slice has no sugar in it and it tastes just like regular pie… I'd call it Fake Pie if I thought people would buy it with a name like that."

Hiei thought for a moment, wondering if the slice would taste any good at all. He decided to take a risk. He pulled out his wallet and the pie vendor shook his head. "It's on me." The pie vendor sighed. "I simply understand you, that's all. I'm a baker, and a diabetic. Do you know what it's like to go to work every day and have sweets staring at you, teasing you like it knows what-for?"

Hiei laughed ruefully. "I suddenly don't feel so bad about my employer…" at the pie vendor's questioning glance, he explained, "My boss heard I was a diabetic and immediately had his petty little Grim Reaper go get a jar of candies to keep on his desk."

The pie vendor snorted in amusement. "You actually call someone the Grim Reaper?"

Hiei nodded. "That's what she is." The pie vendor laughed.

"Well," the pie vendor stated matter-of-factly, "if you ever get tired of your boss, come to Fruit Pie Bakery on Ninth Street. I'll teach you the secret of cooking." He pushed the pie slice toward Hiei and Hiei took it.

For the first time ever, Hiei thanked a human he did not know. "Thanks." He made his way to a nearby picnic table, feeling much better than he had felt earlier that morning. He sat down and sniffed the pie tentatively, curious if it really would taste normal without any sugar. It looked like apple pie, but apples had natural sugars didn't they?

He took the plastic fork and a tentative bite out of the pie. His first impression was amazement and he glanced back at the pie vendor. The old man laughed and gave him a thumbs-up sign, calling out, "It's all about creating fake to taste real!"

Hiei looked at the pie again, more carefully. He could not distinguish any difference between a real apple pie and the one he was eating. He took another bite of it, trying to taste differences. There was the slight notice of the sugar substitute but it was only noticeable if it was actually looked for.

And he wasn't feeling at all like he was eating real sweets, since real sweets made him sick these days. He found himself smiling a very real smile and in a very pleasant mood as he sat there, savoring the piece of fake apple pie.

Not even a young woman and her daughter invading his personal space by asking to share his table could destroy his mood now and he even let them sit down, watching them as he ate with a foolish grin on his face. He would definitely have to keep the Fruit Pie Bakery on Ninth Street in mind for future reference.

The young woman wore a dark sundress that contrasted with her fair skin. He didn't think she was Japanese when he first saw her, and when she talked he heard a distinct French accent. She was fair-haired, and had bright green eyes. Her body was thin and obviously curvaceous. Her hair was a jumble of curls pinned to the back of her head, though the curls were threatening to pop out of their hold. She had long fingers and had painted her nails the same navy color as her dress. He guessed her toe nails were also probably painted navy and she would have darker shoes on as well.

When she had been standing to ask if she and her daughter could sit at his table, she'd seemed so incredibly tall, but now that she was sitting, he guessed accurately that she used tall shoes to increase her height. She was a very attractive woman, indeed, but he was far too happy over pie to notice the long, curved lashes or her slender, bare arms or the way her lips were naturally pursed.

Her daughter was much the same way, looking to be about six or seven years old, except where her mother was very feminine, the daughter seemed to be rather tomboyish. She dressed in black slack-shorts, and a white short-sleeve button up polo. The mother's hair looked to be very long, but the daughter's hair barely went to the tips of her ears and was straight instead of curled.

"Francine," the woman sighed, her French accent blatantly aware.

"Frankie," the child said immediately. "Papa calls me Frankie, why can't you?"

The woman started speaking French, her cheeks flushing slightly. She glanced at Hiei in almost embarrassment and Hiei didn't point out that he could very much understand French…not to mention he was very fluent in it. It came after living over five hundred years. "Because I named you Francine. Come, eat." She opened a small lunch sack and took out baggies of cut carrots, broccoli, and radishes.

"I don't want that," Francine said, brushing away the vegetables. Her green eyes searched around them, "I want nachos! And a chili dog! And cotton candy! And ice cream!" her eyes then fell on the pie vendor's stand. Currently the pie vendor was serving two people pie and milk. "I _want_ pie, and I _want_ it now!"

"Honey," the woman started to say no.

Francine stood up on the bench and screamed at the top of her lungs. "My mama is a stupid woman who won't give me pie!" She spoke in Japanese so that everyone around would understand. Then she jumped up onto the table and started kicking things off like a spoiled child. Hiei hadn't expected the child's rampage to extend to him, but it did and his pie landed on his shirt.

Needless to say, he wanted to strangle the child. 'What did the spirit world psychiatrist say to do in situations like this?' he wondered. 'Oh, yeah…count to ten before beating said subject of offense… or was it count to ten _instead of_ beating said subject of offense? The former sounds better…'

"Oh, my, I'm so sorry, sir!" the woman said in Japanese, grabbing her child. "Francine, you apologize this instant."

"An apology isn't going to bring my pie back," Hiei said, looking at the last few bits of pie mashed well and good into his shirt. He pulled the over-shirt off, leaving only his gray tee-shirt beneath that. He held the shirt out to the child, glaring at the child with a crimson stare. "Here's that pie you wanted, girl."

Francine's jaw dropped as she looked at him. Her mother apologized again and Hiei walked around the table, dropping the sullied shirt in Francine's lap. "The only one you should be bothering is yourself." He told the child. "Not me. Not your mother. Not the rest of these people here. If you can't get something yourself, you shouldn't have it." He turned to walk away, his very soul screaming 'blood for vengeance'.

But the child looked petrified enough just seeing his eyes. Plus, he wasn't too keen on another ten years forced servitude to Koenma for killing. His last sentence was over and he was still working for Koenma, but since he was working willingly now, he at least didn't have a new mission daily and only had to go on the huge ones when the four of them were required.

Koenma should really give him a bonus for not killing that girl…

He pushed his way through the crowd to the lake at the end of the carnival grounds. He parked his bottom on a swing on the shore of the small lake to watch the fireworks, even though it would be two hours until it was dark enough to start them. The entire carnival surrounded and spiked out from the lake, with the lake at the very center of the grounds.

There were five main gates into the carnival grounds. He was closest to the north-most gate. His senses told him that the others were closest to the southern gate. He was in the perfect position to watch them prepare the boats with the fireworks. It was almost tempting to read out with fire and set them all off, but he had to refrain.

He grinned, holding the sturdy chains of the swing and leaning to watch the humans scrabble around to the orders of a bulky man. One small child, probably only ten or so, was helping the adults and doing everything he was told while tripping the whole way. When the bulky man told the child to get "the final package", the boy went and struggled with a heavy box, taking it to the boat. He tripped and most of the fireworks fell into the shallow water.

The boy was reprimanded and the fireworks were taken out of the water, dripping water. "You got ten thousand dollars? Huh? We paid ten thousand for these ones alone! It's the finale, oh now what do we do?"

Hiei pulled himself off the swing and walked down to the pier. Hiei had been waiting to see these fireworks all year. It was his main reason to coming to this carnival because they always had really interesting fireworks patterns. He'd found out about the carnival five years ago and had gone every year on the final day of the carnival to see the fireworks.

And if the fireworks were going to be ruined, that would be no good at all. "Well, we could just bunch a few candles together and call it the finale…" the bulky man said dubiously.

Hiei said, "You could replace the gunpowder in them."

The bulky man looked up at Hiei, shielding the sun from his eyes with his hand. "We don't have the time to do that. We need to be set up in a half hour."

"Well, I could make them launch and fly if you want." Really, what happened to the 'real' Hiei, he wondered. Did that pie make him tolerant or something? He shouldn't be offering up his services. No, it also couldn't have been the pie, since he was talking to the pie vendor in a pleasant manner as well.

"How?" the bulky man asked suspiciously.

Hiei shrugged. "I'm rather good with fire, I suppose."

The bulky man didn't seem to have any more complaints. "If you can, good. If not, we'll have a contingency plan set up for a finale. Jeckt, you go sit on the swings or something _useful_." Hiei watched as the boy pouted and walked away.

--

The group ate dinner at a small food vendor and sat to chat about the day with each other cheerfully. Kagome paid for Dyske to get a hamburger and fries and the boy ate it so daintily it was a curiosity whether or not he was a boy in the first place.

The hamburgers they all got were good as far as carnival food went, and Yusuke complained about the lack of beer being sold, stating that every good carnival had alcohol except their carnival. Keiko told Yusuke he didn't need alcohol; he was loopy enough without it.

They finished eating and left the food barn. Outside the food barn, something curious happened. Dyske squealed, "Uncle!" and took off running before anyone could stop him. Kuwabara had totally forgotten about his plan to drop hints to Kagome about his true life, but what happened next made him glad he had not said a word.

A man approached with Dyske clinging to his back and jabbering hurriedly. He had long silver hair held back in a high tail, a red bandana on his head, and pale skin. Golden eyes glimmered in the light from the food barn as he responded to each one of Dyske's questions. His arms were folded around Dyske's knees, supporting the child on his back. The man's red tee-shirt contrasted dark against the pink frills of Dyske's dress, and his white khaki's had more pockets than Kagome ever thought one pair of pants could have.

When Kagome had stopped, the others did as well, asking if something was wrong. She put a hand to her mouth, touching the tips of her fingers to her lower lip. She tried to keep the word from passing her lips, but it bubbled out of her throat and she was helpless to stop it. "Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha smiled at her but it didn't make her stomach melt like it used to. "Hey Kagome." Inuyasha smirked at her and stopped a few feet in front of their group. "I know this is sudden and all that," well, that wasn't how she would put it exactly… she hadn't even known he was _alive_ still, "but we gotta talk."

Kagome pursed her lips. It seemed each of their group was holding their breath for her response. "What would we have to talk about?" she asked him. "It's over. It's been over." She did mean the fight with Naraku was over and the jewel was safe, therefore her obligation to the past was done with, but from an outsider's standpoint, it didn't sound that way.

"It _was_ over," Inuyasha turned his head to look at the child out of the corner of his eyes. "Dyske, your bastard dad's waitin' to see you."

"But I don't want to see daddy, Uncle Inuyasha," Dyske whined. "I want mommy."

"I can't give you that," Inuyasha told Dyske. He looked back at Kagome. "Please? Come with me, just for an hour. It's all I need. Then if you still want to cut all ties after that, you can."

Kazuma held his breath. To him, it sounded very like he could lose Kagome. And not to mention this guy was a lot better looking than him. He listened to Kagome's next words with the world beginning to spin in circles.

"It must be bad if you need me." She sighed and turned to the others. "I'll meet you at the south shore of the lake before the fireworks start. Okay?"

Kazuma nodded and knew the others were sending piteous glances at him. "Yeah… later…" Kazuma agreed and began to trudge miserably to the lake. Kagome turned to hurry after Inuyasha who had already started away with Dyske. No words were said on the way to the lake.

Inuyasha led Kagome to the closest exit and out of the carnival. They walked only two blocks after that before they were in front of a large hotel. Inuyasha entered and Kagome followed. They took the elevator up one floor and no longer did the place look like a hotel. Demons were everywhere, cubicles were set up, both humans and demons were hurrying back and forth on the floor with papers flying left and right.

As they neared an office door at the end, Dyske started crying softly against his uncle's shoulder. "I don't wanna see daddy… he's gonna be mean to me again…" he cried.

Inuyasha entered the office and set Dyske on a desk. "Sit at my desk, 'kay buddy?" he asked the boy almost affectionately. Dyske sniffled and sat down in the desk chair. Kagome was then led to another door and Inuyasha knocked before entering.

Jaken squabbled off something or other before he was dismissed by a man in a chair that currently looked out on the lake. Due to the man being turned around to the window, Kagome couldn't see who it was but she had a pretty good idea. "Sesshoumaru-sama, what is it you want?"

Sesshoumaru stood from the chair, leaning on the window with both hands intact. "Myonagi is alive." Sesshoumaru stated coldly.

Kagome was confused and looked at Inuyasha. "Myonagi cast some black magic a long time ago, shortly after you returned through the well and the well sealed. We couldn't get to you then, so we had to seal Myonagi in ice in the mountains. Unfortunately, Dyske got in the way of the seal back then, so he was also frozen."

"And this is my problem, how?" Kagome asked.

Kagome heard the clicking of shoes on tiles and turned to view behind her. A woman who looked like she'd just been enjoying the festival came in, her once-pinned blond curls falling about her in an array of madness.

"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama, Inuyasha-sama. I came as soon as I could, but I was at the carnival with Francine and had to take her to her father's before I could come here." She flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Francine is quite stubborn when she wants to be." Kagome noticed the French lilt to her voice.

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head. "Don't worry about it, Gen." he said. He looked at Kagome and said, "Kagome, this is Genevieve Ronun, Gen, this is Kagome Higurashi. Gen's working for Sesshoumaru. We just got here too, Gen."

Kagome looked at her watch with a raised eyebrow. "Inuyasha, you said one hour… it's been fifty-eight minutes." He gave her an exasperated look. "I'm counting travel time." She explained.

"But even counting travel time it's only been," Inuyasha started.

Kagome explained, "I have to also count the amount of time it will take to get me back to the carnival. Fifty-nine minutes."

Sesshoumaru turned to look at Kagome with his piercing golden eyes. "There is also a group of supposed 'Spirit Detectives' working for my ultimate rival. I need help with two things: the destruction of Myonagi, and stopping the spirit detectives from killing my agents."

"If I say no?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha suggested, "I wouldn't…"

"I'm human… way too old to be doing this sort of thing. I have a boyfriend, a job, and friends and I'm back in school. I won't mess that up for you." Kagome frowned.

Sesshoumaru said, "The job is simple," almost as if she'd already accepted. "You go where we ask, take pictures, and get out with the pictures intact. There is very minimal risk of fighting involved."

"'Very minimal' has a remarkable amount of frequency to it," Kagome drawled. "You want me to be a spy for you!"

"Yep. Please, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked. He took her hand and said, "I wish you would do this." She felt a tugging inside her as the 'genie' part of her reacted to the wish and her own desire for a little more adventure that she always tried to quash.

"Okay, fine," she said grudgingly. "I'm going back to the carnival now." She looked around and there was a piece of paper and a pen on the desk. She grabbed the pen and wrote a Post Office box number on it. "That's my post office box, send more details to it about this stuff. I also require a very large paycheck." She needed to go back now, before Kazuma died of fright losing her.

--

When Kazuma saw Kagome return to him, his heart burst in happiness. She must have chosen him! She was several minutes late but still…

That night, the fireworks were spectacular, and Kazuma could only find one explanation for that. It was because he and Kagome were together that the fireworks were so wonderful, and questioned it no further. He smiled briefly at the woman cuddled up to his side before turning back to the blasts in the sky and "oooh"ing with the rest of the cloud.

* * *

End.


End file.
